Will the operators of land-based casinos pay money for licenses in advance, but they won't be able to work, because there is still no certification?
It turns out that way because licenses for equipment cannot be issued now. The list of play equipment, which is subject to certification, has already been approved by the Commission and is being adjusted by the Ministry of Justice. The only moment that prevents the Commission from issuing licenses for equipment now is an adjustment. De facto, after this document is approved, the Commission will be able to start accepting applications for equipment.
In an interview, Boris Baum said that there is a problem of coordination with the Ministry of Finance ...
The Ministry of Finance has commented that they want to see in this list, but this is an approval procedure, not an adjustment. As far as I know, the Commission seems to have agreed to the position of the Ministry of Finance. Although this position is rather strange.
Why then are ground business operators getting licenses right now? If it means the impossibility of work and loss of money.
Many other ground operators are not currently being served. We are now talking not only about casinos, not many casinos are ready to open yet. But there are slot machine halls that are ready to open. But they are not submitted because they can obtain a license to operate, but they cannot obtain an equipment license and de facto open up. Probably, these first casino licenses were obtained because someone needs to be the first. Business is a risk, the operator made such a decision to obtain this license.
Can online casinos that have been licensed legally operate?
They have the opportunity to obtain certification. They have certificates. Ground business operators must submit certificates to the Commission to obtain an equipment license. For online, there is no provision for submitting certificates to obtain a license. The company just has to have it. Since this is a direct requirement of the law. Online operators comply with the law, they have received certification, and they do not have to wait for another by-law that says they need to be certified.
Who is currently doing this certification?
There are subjects of certification who are authorized to certify anything, any software, refrigerators, televisions, and so on. And the law says that if something must be certified, then the company applies to an accredited certification subject, and he determines which technical standards in force at the moment and DSTU must comply with this or that equipment. And this applies to online systems and refrigerators and so on. Accordingly, it will be certified according to the standards that exist at the moment. When a new standard is developed, certifications will work in a new way. Companies are now conducting certification within the legal framework and within the framework of the current regulatory framework. When applying for certification of something, they use the technical regulations and DSTU that exist. We do not have special technical regulations at the moment, which concerns the certification of gaming equipment. But there are technical regulations that relate, for example, to the certification of slot machines. Since there was once a gambling business in Ukraine and these technical regulations and DSTU exists.
And what exactly can an online business certify according to the old DSTU?
For online, we say that this is software. Certification of software in Ukraine also exists, banking, in terms of personal data protection and all kinds of other issues, crypto protection. This software is also certified.
How long can it take to adjust the list of gaming equipment for certification?
Last time, we adjusted the procedure for issuing permits for the premises. It took quite a long time, more than a month. It all depends on how many comments there are.
Interview especially for gamingpost.net
The gambling portal gamingpost.net monitors the process of legalization of gambling in Ukraine. Read the latest news: “Land-based business cannot operate without certification,” - Boris Baum on licenses for land-based casinos
